Revelation 9:1 "And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit [pit of the abyss]."
The "star" that falls to the earth is the star of Isaiah 14. The star is "Lucifer", who will be the Antichrist once he arrives on earth. Satan is given the key, or authority to the bottomless pit, for this is where Satan's fallen angels are held.
Satan is to be God's executioner of God's divine wrath that is to be poured out upon the earth. God is going to give Satan the right to have his way with all who are blind to God's Word.
Remember, God removed the wall of protection around Job; for Satan. The only stipulation God gave Satan was that he was not allowed to take Job's life. Job had the will; Satan did the testing, and God allowed it. This is an example of what is to happen in these end times; and that is why we must be ready, and with our spiritual armor on.
Right now, today, Satan is not in that bottomless pit, but in heaven. He is the accuser of the saints before the throne of God. The fallen angels are in the pit, or the abyss. The pit is not a place, or location, but a point of degradation. It's a similar statement to Satan being told he would always crawl on his belly, as the serpent. No Satan never became a snake, but he was a deceiver and his actions were as that of a snake.
Revelation 9:2 "And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit."
This is the pit that holds every evil spirit that is on the earth and in God's confinement. This smoke comes from the pit, and it darkens, not eliminates the sun and air. When Jesus Christ returns the sun, moon and stars are eliminated. This darkening is talked about in Revelation 8:12, where one third of visibility is gone, at the sounding of the fourth trumpet.
This smoke is setting up the people of the earth for the supernatural things about to happen. Just like in Job's case, God will set limits how far Satan can go. What is important to us, as Christians; is that we be able to identify Satan, and his works, by what ever roll he plays, or name he choses for himself.
Revelation 9:3 "And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power."
This locust army that comes upon the earth is Satan's army of demonic forces. They are the fallen angels, and demons, both coming with Satan, and those that are already here upon the earth.
The "power" in the Greek, is "exousia"; it means "authority", or delegated power by God to them. It is the right to carry out the wrath of God, in His [God's] behalf. When they strike, or exert their power on the deceived, it is a spiritual power, as we see in Ephesians 6:10-20. This is because we are in a spiritual battle against Satan and His forces.
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